2024 NASCAR Cup Series Schedule Highlighted by Iowa Debut, Playoff Shakeup

By David Morgan, Associate Editor

The 2024 NASCAR Cup Series schedule is finally here.

After weeks of piecing together next year’s schedule like a puzzle, the full picture was finally revealed on Wednesday when the sanctioning body rolled out the full lineup of tracks and dates for NASCAR’s premier series.

While there are many mainstays that remain in known positions on the calendar, there have also been a number of changes made to the schedule, including the debut of Iowa Speedway next June.

 Since opening in 2006, the Rusty Wallace designed 7/8ths-mile tri-oval has hosted a number of other series, including ARCA, the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series, the NASCAR Xfinity Series, and the NTT IndyCar Series over the course of its lifespan, but never the Cup Series – until now.

Fans and drivers have long called for the track to get a shot at hosting a Cup race and they’ll finally get that chance next summer.

In a much-heralded announcement in the Iowa state capitol on Tuesday, NASCAR officials were joined by state leaders to lock in the June 16 race date for the track’s Cup debut – a Sunday night showdown under the lights.

“This is a dream come true,” said NASCAR Hall of Famer Rusty Wallace, Iowa Speedway’s co-founder and designer. “This track was built with the intent of hosting a NASCAR Cup Series race one day, and to finally see it come together is a testament to the tenacity of the great race fans in Iowa.”

The addition of Iowa to the 36-race season slate was not the only change made for 2024, with a number of changes for other tracks as well. Some of which were made necessary by the two-week break in August for the Summer Olympics.

Among the changing season landscape are these new dates:

• Atlanta’s first race date moves up to Race No. 2 on the schedule (February 25), with its second date shifting from a mid-summer race to the kick-off race for the Playoffs.
• Bristol dirt is no more, with the track using its typical concrete oval for its spring race on March 17.
• Texas moves from out of the Playoffs to a spring date on April 14.
• The Chicago street course returns for its second go-around on July 7.
• The Brickyard 400 is back on the Indianapolis Motor Speedway oval on July 21.
• With the Olympic break, the Southern 500 at Darlington will now serve as the regular season finale on Labor Day weekend, with Daytona now the penultimate race of the regular season a week earlier on August 24.
• Watkins Glen moves into the Playoffs as the middle race of the first round between Atlanta and Bristol.
• Kansas will now serve as the opening race for the second round.
• The shift caused by the Olympic break will also see Phoenix moved a week later and the champion crowned on November 10 instead of the first week in November as it currently sits.

See the full 2024 Cup Series schedule below: